The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi
by The Eternal Scribe
Summary: Dying and waking up in Uzumaki Naruto's body can change a girls view on life. OC-self-insert.
1. Chapter 1

_Where a quiet girl dies and wakes up in Naruto Uzumaki's body just before the beginning of the series and finds her world tipped upside down. Actually ends up being pretty close to cannon…_

_I'm not expecting this to be one of those amazingly popular stories; I made it with the intention of seeing where it would go and not really knowing myself. I hope those of you that read it enjoy it at least a little bit. :)_

* * *

My name is Naruto Uzumaki, but I was known as someone else before that.

You can ask the villagers and they will most likely tell you that I have never not been Uzumaki Naruto, the Hokage will assure you that Naruto has always been himself. Yet before I woke up in his body, I was not a blonde orphan, and I wasn't a boy either.

Now enough of that, how about I tell you about how I was forced into a five year old boy's body and how my perspective of life changed as the years passed.

My name is Uzumaki Naruto.

And this is my version of The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.

* * *

Have you ever had that moment where you wished you would have not done what you did? Where you looked back to that moment and wondered how much better your life would have been if you hadn't have made that mistake.

I was having one of those moments.

"This is awesome!"

"Turn up the music!"

You know the loud bass in some music that, if turned up to ridiculous levels, your whole body seems to vibrate and everything around you shakes? Well it's a lot worse when you're in a small car with six other people, who are a lot more of the party animal type then you are. Their bodies are sweaty, smelly, and they really don't care if you happened to get hit by a stray limb, or have absolutely no room to even reach up to scratch your nose.

"Come on Carlyn! Stop being such a downer, enjoy the moment!"

I gave my friend a weak smile and only pressed harder against the door as a body leaned against mine. I had no clue why I even accepted to join her on this little 'adventure', logically I should have stayed home and read my books while listening to music that didn't make my brain vibrate. "No thanks."

She shrugged and started to sing loudly along with the song, her voice as off key as the rest of the groups.

I sighed and looked out the window, watching as the trees passed by. I wasn't a prude per se, but I wasn't a party animal either, I enjoyed sticking to my books and having family barbeques with my parents as our close friends chatted by the fire.

I didn't enjoy the ridiculously loud music, or the insistently rude people, and I most definitely didn't like it when I was talked into having a little 'fun' with a group of teenagers that I didn't even talk to.

But like most kids my age I was prone to bouts of curiosity, and though I was familiar with the term 'curiosity killed the cat' I didn't actually think anything bad would happen.

Too bad even if I was one of those 'smart kids', I couldn't see where this whole fiasco was going to head.

I'm sure you already know what is going to happen, a group of rowdy teenagers, loud music, a car. It all adds up really. So it was no surprise when the driver decided it was fun to swerve on the road, and when a car suddenly appeared just ahead of us it was no less heart stopping as it seemed when you realized your life was going to end.

There are many guesses as to what happens seconds after you die, some people say 'your life flashes before your eyes' or 'you see the people you care most about'. And I guess they could be true, for the people that actually had the time to think about that, but when you only have seconds to comprehend the situation, and to feel the cold blooded terror of true fear, there was only one thing I could think at that moment.

'Shit, I was never able to find out what happened to the leaf village once Pein showed up.'

When you're an Otaku, you have bizarre priorities.

Then, the sounds of screams and sickening crunches as the two vehicles collided, and my body was thrown forward and engulfed by _painpainpain _as my whole world tipped and weaved in slow torture filled dance. I could hear the heaving pounding of my heart reverberating throughout my body, and feel the agony of my life slowly slipping away, the tears of pain falling from my eyes and down my face as I gasped for breath.

It may have been seconds, minutes, hours until my body finally gave up, I don't know. When it did I couldn't help by feel relief as the pain numbed and my eyesight blurred, and finally with one last echoing thud my heart stopped and my world vanished.

* * *

A loud cough jolted me awake and I sat up with a start, my body sweating and trembling as I took in deep breaths of air. My heart pounded in my chest and I reached up to grab the place near it, my eyes darting frantically around the unfamiliar area.

The alleyway I was in had two bright colored walls on either side, the smell of trash and alcohol invading my senses made my eyes water at the pure intensity of the stench, and I shifted further away from the large dumpster I had been leaning against.

Where was I?

I turned my gaze toward the entrance of the alley, watching as people passed with smiles and cheerful voices, their words oddly audible despite the distance.

"Nice day isn't it?" A female greeted, hugging the man in front of her.

He gave a smile his cheeks tinted with red as her rather large chest was pressed against his body. "I agree, despite the huge storm last night it looks like we have a beautiful day ahead of us." They walked off, their voices becoming distant before vanishing.

I turned my attention back to my body and furrowed my brow at the orange shirt and white shorts I had on. My legs, I realized as my gaze traveled downward, were significantly shorter and tanner than usual. I brought my hand up to a leg, it seemed my hand was also the same, and set it upon one, lightly skimming my finger tips on the skin. Light goose bumps rose from the touch signifying that they were indeed attached to my body, and disappeared soon after as I lifted my hand away. I brought it to my face, balling it into a fist and watching as the dirty fingers dug into my palm, so these were my hands also.

In fact, I set my hand on my chest feeling my heart beat in a steady rhythm within it, that seemed to be my very much active and healthy heart.

This though made no sense, my skin was pale from the lack of sunlight, and my limbs may have been shorter than the average girl my age but they weren't _that _short. Another thing that confused me, was how I could breathe properly, how my eyesight darkened momentarily as my eyelids closed in a blink.

Was this perhaps some odd sort of afterlife? Was this what happened to someone after they died?

Maybe though, everyone had a different version of an afterlife, since everyone was prone to their own opinions, and maybe this was mine. Something that I didn't even know I wanted, because if it was my afterlife, I had imagined it to be a lot different than what I saw. Maybe I had some secret desire for this, instead of the never ending books of anime and manga that I had though I wanted to have.

"Look at him, laying in the trash. I'm not surprised, that's were something like him belongs." A voice sneered and I turned my attention to the two women whispering to each other as they sent disgusted glances my way.

Her friend nodded, her eyes glaring as our gazes met. "Maybe he'll stay there and rot so we can finally rest in peace."

The first woman gained a longing look. "Then I could finally sleep well at night."

The pair of women, I mused silently, watching as they continued to whisper. Resembled two teenage girls as they gossiped, they were huddled near each other, and not even trying to hide the fact it was me they were talking about.

"I can't believe the Hokage allows something like _that _to roam around."

The woman was hushed. "Don't talk about it, you know the consequences."

Her friend nodded, but I could see she didn't agree, but listened anyway, allowing herself to be tugged away from the alley.

The word _Hokage _echoed in my mind as the alley was once again walked away from. Though it didn't seem possible, if this was my afterlife perhaps I had been sent to a place I would enjoy. Since everyone knows the afterlife is supposed to be peaceful and happy and all that jazz.

But why, when I was referred to, was I a _he? _I was female, I had boobs, no matter how small, and all the other parts a woman should have, so it was rather hard to mistake me for the opposite gender. Perhaps they just weren't able to see well and presumed the body lying in the alley was a male.

I wasn't shocked though, that no one had walked up to me yet. There were very few people that would actually walk up to someone who was lying by the dumpster, sure it was looked up to as being good, but people passed by the homeless every day without a second glance and I was no different in their eyes.

Yet, why did they seem to look at me with so much hate and distain?

I broke out of my thoughts, finally deciding I had spent long enough becoming friends with the trash, and slowly edged my body up, leaning against the dumpster for leverage. I blinked as my head spun, and pressed my back against the wall, feeling my body almost give out. I felt weak, as in I hadn't eaten for an extended amount of time, weak, my stomach clenching with hunger at the thought of food. Though I sensed an odd sort of energy within me, I could feel it stimulating my body and giving it the extra help it needed to stand strong and not collapse. But just barley, it was strong and seemed to have a lot of extra energy stored near my stomach; it was slow in its movement and almost lethargic, like my body felt.

It was similar, I realized, to the description of Chakra, which was something the Shinobi in Naruto needed to live and use for attacks.

I didn't know how to feel about that. If it were true that this 'afterlife' was based on the Naruto world, that meant I needed to get something to eat. Because everything in that world needed to have Chakra running through its veins to survive, and if I had that, it meant I need to eat something to keep myself energized.

Even if I wasn't, it was obvious that I needed food anyway. My hands were shaking and my limbs heavy.

I used the wall as a crutch and slowly shuffled my way down the alley, stumbling slightly when I miscalculated my stride. I winced when my knees stung as they scrapped against the ground and pushed myself back up.

Eventually I was able to get to the entrance of the alley, and scan my surroundings.

I was in a town of some sort, I realized, the buildings were brightly colored and the street occupied by people of various sizes and color. The whole air of the town was happy, so very happy and peaceful; the people were smiling and chatting with each other and the employees of the shops. What caught my attention though, was higher up on top of the buildings, the people jumping from roof to roof with no problem, not even nearing the edge as they passed.

I could only watch with shock as silver pieces of metal placed on various colored cloth and parts of the body gleamed in the sunlight, a familiar green vest decorating some of the obviously talented people.

I blinked, my mind racing a mile a minute.

It was obvious, I wasn't stupid and it wasn't hard to realize where I was, the impossible bounds and speed as they crossed the roofs, the energy I felt inside of me, and the metal plate engraved with a swirl with a tail.

I was in Konohagakure no Sato, or better known as Konoha or The Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Which meant I was in the Naruto world, and either my mind remembered every detail of the town and I was currently in my 'afterlife', or I was very much alive and screwed.

If I was in the Naruto world that meant, Uchiha Sasuke the-boy-who-hn'ed, Haruno Sakura the-girl-who-squealed and Uzumaki Naruto the-blonde-that-obsessed were real, and so was the Akatsuki with their red clouds, and Orochimaru with his snakes were real also.

It was then that I finally caught on to why those women seemed to detest me, and why I could feel the burning gazes of the villagers as they recognized me.

Someone who was hated, feared, and outcast in the village. Someone who was looked down upon but didn't allow it to affect him, the blonde Shinobi that would become the Hokage of Konoha and gain the respect of the villagers.

Uzumaki Naruto.

I was Uzumaki Naruto.

How... was someone supposed to react to that? Did I scream? Did I squeal in delight? Did I flip out and start babbling nonsense?

I didn't know, I read stories where this happened, and they all had different reactions. I myself could barely comprehend _why _I should find someone to settle down with, and cuddle with as we spoke loving words to each other. I grew up in a normal family, but like many people I had my hardships, and they molded me into someone that could understand how to solve a math equation. But falling in love? Or communicating more than necessary? I couldn't do it, I didn't understand why, and didn't want to. Love made my mother and father split, communicating made people start to gossip, so I just sat back and watched the world pass by.

My dilemma thought was how to react to my new information.

I was a boy, a Shinobi, the main character of a popular manga series, and Jinchūriki of Konoha.

Perhaps fate would stop hating me and at least allow me to settle in before I had to go through what Naruto did, because I didn't even know how to form hand signs for attacks much less even use my Chakra in the first place.

I finally stepped from the alley and turned my head to gaze at each end of the street, ignoring the way people veered away from my body as they passed and whispered among each other.

My main priority was to eat. My body needed sustenance to survive.

But, where would I get food? Naruto was hated by everyone, and was kicked out of all the stores, so where...

Right, Ramen Ichiraku, the only place that accepted him and where Naruto went to eat his precious Ramen. I allowed my feet to bring me toward the shop, happy that I at least still had Naruto's memories.

I stopped when I reached my destination and watched for a moment as Ayame and her father worked behind the bar, the delicious smell of Ramen invading my senses and making my stomach rumble.

I walked forward and into the shop gaining a wide smile from Ayame's father as he recognized me. "Yo! Naruto! I was worrying about you since you didn't appear for breakfast." His eyes discretely scanned my form and a worried frown formed on his face. "You want some Ramen? The first bowl is in the house."

I nodded and got up on the stool, struggling for a moment before finally sitting down. "Yes please."

Teuchi frowned furrowing his brows. "Are you okay Naruto? You seem quieter then you usually are."

I shifted, realizing I had made my first mistake already. I was a naturally quiet person, and I only shouted, well actually I don't think I ever shouted since I was a young child. "Just tired." I replied, twitching my lips into a weak smile.

That only seemed to make him worry more. "Are you okay? Do you need any first-aid?"

I shook my head.

He gave a hesitant nod before placing a large bowl of Ramen in front of me. "Here, this will energize you." He sent me a grin before walking down the bar to talk to another customer.

I tilted my head toward the food, it really was a lot, and I highly doubted I could eat everything, much less eat as much as Naruto did. I picked up the chopsticks and broke them apart and brought up a few noodles from the broth. "Thanks for the food." I said and took a bite, pausing in shock when my taste buds sang; I had never eaten something so amazing.

Before I knew it I was eating at a fast pace, though I paid attention to not making a mess, and brought the bowl to my lips drinking the broth once the noddles were gone. No wonder Naruto loved Ramen so much. It was like eating a piece of heaven.

I set the plate down with a content sigh, already feeling my body strengthen.

Ayame giggled. "I'm glad you liked it Naruto."

I nodded in agreement, fiddling with the chopsticks awkwardly when I realized that I was still hungry. The bowl was bigger than my head and yet I didn't eve feel halfway full, no wonder Naruto ate so much.

"Do you want another one Naruto?" Ayame asked and I nodded. "Okay, but only one more. Don't tell father." She winked playfully and brought out another bowl.

I gave her a thankful nod. "Thank you Ayame."

* * *

The sun was high in the sky once I had finally finished eating, and I could already feel the difference. My Chakra was still a little on the slow side, seeing that I had only eaten two bowls and Naruto ate twelve, but it was more lively then before.

Now I had to figure out if he even had a place to stay, I highly doubted that Sarutobi would allow Naruto to live on the streets, but I did wake up in an alley so who knew. I did know that he got a house sometime, so perhaps he just fell asleep in the alley or something.

I scanned my memories and paused when I finally came upon the direction I should be heading toward for the house. I guess he did have somewhere to live after all.

I began to head toward the direction of my homestead, feeling uneasy as the villagers glared at me as I passed by.

Was this what Naruto had to deal with every day? The feeling of pure hatred being sent his way as he went along with his day, of feeling so small and utterly insignificant and even though he had done nothing wrong.

I was a distant person, and usually not affected by the people around me, but I think even Uchiha Sasuke would feel affected by this unrelenting hatred. I wasn't use to it, and though I didn't show it, I was rather frightened by the intensity. My hands were slightly shaking, and my heart clenching.

Naruto, he didn't know about his 'furry little problem' until later on, and spent most of his life questioning why he was hated, and what he had done to be hated. I knew why though, and I was still affected. I didn't know how he dealt with it, and how I was going to deal with it.

I could only keep my eyes focused ahead and make it seem like I didn't even notice the villagers.

Eventually I was at his house, a room on a higher part of a rather run-down apartment complex, and seemed to be on the shadier side of town. I slowly made my way up the stone steps and toward his room, ignoring the yelling I could hear coming from nearby, and stopped when I reached his door.

I hesitated for a moment, before reaching up and turning the knob, the door creaking as I stepped inside and shutting with a click as pressed it closed. I didn't turn around for a moment, suddenly realizing how _real _this was, how I was going to have to live as Uzumaki Naruto and succeed at what he did.

He was the most important character, and I didn't have the luxury of watching everything as it happened. I had to survive the villagers, defeat Gaara, and try to stop Sasuke from joining with Orochimaru.

There was so much I had to do, and I didn't have amazing memory, so I was bound to miss things here and there. But I remembered the most important things, so I could only prepare for what I knew was coming.

I was always an adapter, this time may take a while, but I would have to adapt to my new life.

I would have to become a Shinobi, train my body, my mind, for the battles to come.

With that thought in mind it turned around and finally took in the room I would be living in. The first thought that came to mind was how utterly trashed it was, Ramen cups littered the floor along with random pieces of paper and scrolls. I wasn't the cleanest person, but now I felt the need to clean up everything.

I sighed and walked across the floor and toward the kitchen, opening the correct drawer and grabbing a garbage bag.

It was time to make this house livable in.

* * *

It took longer than I expected to clean the house, and by the time I finished it was almost night so I ate a cup of Ramen for dinner and set off toward bed.

My body was tired, my mind was tired, and I just wanted to rest before I began the long journey of becoming Uzumaki Naruto.

It was going to be hard, I knew that, and long, tiring, and I would probably want to give up at some point.

But I wouldn't, because the Shinobi world needed Uzumaki Naruto.


	2. Chapter 2

_I have a feeling that people won't want to read this because Naruto is the main character of the storyline and what not. But thanks to those that stopped and took the time to read it. :)_

* * *

I wasn't actually jumping for joy when I didn't wake up in my old bed, and when I looked in the mirror I saw a blonde boy in the reflection instead of a girl, I knew I hadn't been dreaming but I couldn't help and hope I was.

Now though, as some people say, this is where it got real.

I was used to living in a safe, secure environment where I had parents to watch over me and where I knew there was a low chance of getting hurt. But now I was surrounded by people who paid kids around the age of twelve, and perhaps even younger, to do the 'dirty work' and those said kids were trained to fight and perhaps even kill their target. Granted, the adults seemed to do more of the killing, I knew that Kishimoto didn't go into too much detail with the killing part.

Life as a Shinobi was rough and dangerous, and even if I didn't want to become one I really had no choice in the matter. This was a world where the strong and lucky survived. The weak? They were either stabbed by an enemy, killed in war, or forever scarred by the horrors they had seen.

One of the things I had to do was try to follow the cannon as much as possible, that meant I had to do horrible in the academy, and give people hope with my inspirational speeches.

Yeah, I had no clue how well that was going to work. Seeing that I didn't like to speak up in the first place.

The first thing I needed to do was see what sort of scrolls Naruto had, and actually he had a lot, most of them were on the _Henge no Jutsu _or the Transformation Technique.

The Transformation Technique was typically used to change into animals, plants, other humans, and even inanimate objects such as weapons. Naruto excelled at this particular art, though he used it for more _imaginative_ means, it would be impossible to deceive a Shinobi with it. Since it was one of the most basic Ninjutsu, and most Shinobi knew how to perform it.

_Shinobi, _the villagers weren't experienced Shinobi, and most likely weren't able to sense that someone was using that technique, and I could use that to my advantage. The best way to determine if someone is using the technique was to cause strain upon the user; though this is of course not always successful. It was obvious though that the transformation could become something more, Tsunade's was an example of an extremely advanced Version and so far, as I was aware, hadn't been broken yet.

The main point of learning the _Henge no Jutsu _was so that I could walk around Konoha without the Villagers recognizing me. Naruto was most well-known for his bright blonde hair, whisker marks, and orange clothes he wore. So if I wanted to be able to buy food, clothing and the like without getting kicked out then I needed to change my coloring.

Henge techniques are meant to be like an illusion, people looked at you and saw someone else, and your body wasn't supposed to actually _change_.

Naruto, or my, Chakra was not lacking in abundance, in fact it was almost too much. It was similar to a puppy, constantly active and everywhere and when you call it, the puppy either doesn't listen or just charges headlong toward your direction. So it was safe to say I was having trouble controlling it, much less using it for a technique.

There was one thing that was important though, I needed to go to the library and get some books on Chakra control and hand seals.

Since I couldn't Henge, I looked in Naruto's dresser and was promptly saddened at what I saw.

It wasn't unnatural to see a poor person lacking in the clothes department, but Naruto was only a five year old orphan who barley even had any money to buy himself anything but cheap packets of Ramen. Yes, I agreed full heartedly that Ramen was amazing, but I'm sure even Naruto didn't like to eat the same food every single day. It wasn't like he had a choice though, and I wouldn't either until I could find a way to properly disguise myself and get money.

The few clothes that I had available were two shirts, a red sports jacket with a black stripe, and oddly enough, a bright red scarf. I paused at that and then grabbed it up, the texture was obviously cheap cotton, but it was long enough that I was easily able to wrap it around my head and cover my face with it. People walked around with face coverings in Konoha, especially Shinobi, so I didn't think I would get questioned about it. I also put on the sports jacket, it didn't have the spiral on it that all of his other clothing did, so I hoped that without the signature spiral people wouldn't realize who I was.

I looked a little odd in the mirror, but since the most prominent features were covered up, most people wouldn't be able to recognize who I was.

I left the house around lunch time and made my way toward where my memory indicated that the Library was, making sure to avoid bumping into people and having my scarf fall off. The day though, I realized, was just as nice as yesterday, people were chatting happily and I was even smiled at me since I wasn't recognized. It was a nice change, but the pure hate that I had felt yesterday was still fresh in my mind and I didn't allow myself to think that I would spend the rest of my time here like this.

The Library was a light pink color with a brown panel wainscoting, and like many of the buildings it had places where the Shinobi could push off, the sign for 'Library' was perched on the side of the building. I hesitated for a moment, before walking inside. It looked like an normal Library, but many, many times bigger than any I had seen; there was even a second level with even more shelves and books. A few people were lingering around, and I spotted the librarian a little ways off behind a counter.

She smiled when she spotted me. "Is there something I can help you with honey?"

I gave a nod. "Can you direct me toward where the books on hand seals and Chakra are?"

She didn't seem at all affected by the way I spoke, which was understandable since most of the kids were more mature then their age, especially if they were in the academy. "Sure honey, just this way."

I followed her through the maze like place, making sure to remember the way for next time and thanked her once we arrived.

"You're welcome sweetie. Just ask me for help if you need it."

People really acted different when they didn't think I was a raging demon ready to destroy the village, I mused, but I didn't really blame them. I would be wary of someone that had the demon that destroyed their village too, hate them though? I don't think I would have it in me to hate a small boy, though I didn't really know what it felt like to have a loved one taken away from you so I couldn't say with full sincerity how I would feel.

I broke out of my thoughts and focused on finding the correct books.

* * *

According to the books there were many different types of Chakra exercises; actually anything that used Chakra could be seen as a Chakra exercise. As soon as I had finally figured out how to expel Chakra from wide areas like my palms and knees I began to stick my hand to objects and walls, and truthfully I was having a hard time. Not only did I have a lot of Chakra, but it was mixed with Kyuubi's and only made it harder to control, I ended up destroying the surfaces of multiple trees since so much Chakra came out and it took about a week to finally get my hand to stick to the tree without getting splinters. It didn't surprise me that I could expel Chakra from my palms and knees, both had a rather large surface, and when I kept it up for a long time I could feel the Chakra slowly draining. There was a reason why academy students weren't trained in Ninjutsu and the like until around nine or ten, their coils had finally risen to a level where they could pull off an attack without getting immediately drained. And even if I was in Naruto's body, even he had a limit, but I was rather awed at how sturdy his body was.

I had been sent careening across the clearing when I had first started with the Chakra exercises, but surprisingly I found that my body only got scraped up a little bit and I could easily get up and try again. I didn't try to pull of tree climbing or water walking, no matter how cool that sounded, my body was too young and I would end up straining my coils no matter how infinite they seemed.

There was also the problem of getting a job, for a few weeks I had been able to walk around and not get noticed, but I could tell that the villagers were noticing that they hadn't seen the 'demon' for a while and were getting agitated. Thanks to my scarf they hadn't even looked my direction, sooner or later they would find it out.

So I knew I had to get the Henge technique down, and thankfully unlike Naruto I didn't have a hard time in figuring it out. I was always a thinker, I could understand how it worked, but like I said before I was having a hard time making my Chakra follow my command.

Hand seals were actually helpful, though hard to form quickly, they helped me concentrate my Chakra correctly so I could properly execute the move. The signs for Henge were relatively simple, rat, boar, ram, and I could only form them correctly when I went slowly, but I was getting it down.

The idea was to imagine what you looked like and make your Chakra form an illusion over your body, I had what I wanted to look like in my head and I was sure it would be helpful. I wasn't planning on anything extravagant, which I highly doubted I could do anyway, I only wanted to change one major thing then I would be able to do everything myself.

I formed the first hand seal while expelling Chakra around my body, then the second one I pushed it to mold around my face like a mask, the last one I pushed it to form the shape I desired. A puff of smoke covered my body and I instantly felt drained, my body heavy and my breath coming out in pants. I could feel a good amount of my Chakra focused toward my face, slowly draining as it worked to keep the Henge up.

I stumbled my way toward the bathroom and looked in the mirror just to be sure that it worked. Instead of a three whisker marks on my cheeks, I had made it so three black lines fell from the back corner of my eye and curved slightly inward, the one nearest to my ear was longer than the other two. It was actually similar to what Jiraiya had but the longest one reached about two inches down my face.

Naruto really did look different without whisker marks, my face was already slightly on the thin side because of the lack of nutritious food but the lack of whiskers really gave his face a slightly thinner look. Not to mention the lack of smile on his face, I usually didn't smile so my face was set in a neutral expression almost all the time.

I knew that this Henge was going to take up a good amount of my Chakra, but it was good exercise and I would be able to get a job, money, and walk around Konoha freely.

Call me a coward, but I didn't grow up like Naruto did, I was used to not being noticed, so to suddenly have so much hate directed toward me, even someone like me would have a hard time. Eventually I would come to ignore it, and I would learn to deal with it like Naruto, but until then I would hide under the Henge.

* * *

As the weeks passed I realized there was very little chance that I could stop everything bad that was going to happen, if any chance at all, and the reality of not being able to stop anything was rather staggering. But so was the idea that _I _was going to have to stop most the stuff from happening, I was going to have to fight Gaara, Sasuke, Orochimaru, and so many other strong Shinobi while trying to not die.

So it was obvious that I needed to be strong.

The idea of telling everyone I knew the future was rather tantalizing, many lives would be saved, and the village would be properly prepared. But who would believe a five year old proclaiming he could see the future? Much less Uzumaki Naruto who was detested by most of the village, and seen as an idiot by the rest even before he had joined the academy.

Once again, my choice was to become what Naruto was. Though he was loud, brash, and not the smartest tool in the shed. The sheer amount of things he accomplished by determination alone made up for that, and since I wasn't the same, I had to work twice as hard to make up for what I lacked.

Tajutsu looked to be my best bet, my Chakra control was still horrible even if I was able to pull off the Henge, which was a lot easier to keep going, and Genjutsu was no better. First, when the caster uses Taijutsu, the control of the stamina is very simple. There is no need for any hand poses nor is there any need for Chakra, though there are some exceptions. Only the stamina naturally needed for that particular martial art skill is consumed. Naruto had a lot of stamina, and though he was on the short side, I could see the potential. The problem was just where I could learn the skill, obviously the academy teacher would be teaching us the basics but it looked like I would end up having to ask for extra help so I could learn as much as I could.

I had finally a got a job, and unsurprisingly it was at Ramen Ichiraku, I didn't cook per se, but I was a delivery boy and carted the food from place to place. It helped with my stamina and I got money to finally buy new clothes. The fashion of Konoha was strange, but I got used to it and eventually learned to enjoy it. I went for the darker colors like blue, dark-green, black and brown. The red and black sports jacket stayed and I likened toward the black pants that I had to bandage at my ankles so the ends wouldn't get caught, even if I felt odd with balloon like pants. My mesh undershirt was different, it was made of multiple silver wires placed over dark cloth, because it would be beyond painful to wear just wires across your skin, and make it look like a chain link fence. The shoes were similar to sandals but they didn't have a strap in the front to hold your foot back, if it weren't for the tightness they would have been highly uncomfortable.

I noticed, as I watched the people around me, that there were some that didn't make a sound as they walked, and I tried to copy what they did, placing my steps as carefully and precise as they did. I could tell that people were amused, but I didn't really care and I was eventually able to pick it up and walk almost completely silent.

I wasn't completely cut off from the people around me, especially since no one recognized me because of my new marks and red scarf around my forehead, the streets were full of children and their parents. I didn't really talk to anyone but Ayame and her father, but that was okay with me since I wasn't the most social person anyway. Kids were obsessed with playing 'Ninja' and running around instead of watching T.V shows, or listening to music, or texting their friends so I was actually rather lost. I had no clue what to talk to them about, if I even talked to them at all, and so I stuck to being by myself and reading books.

I watched and listened as people spoke, and stayed as a silent observer. But I was used to being alone, preferred it even, so I wasn't really affected by not having any friends. It sounded rather pitiful, not having any friends, but like I said before I was okay with it.

I understood though, that getting bullied was far from pleasant, the burning humiliation as you were jeered at and called names stayed with you forever. I could still recall the hurt and pain of being a victim, and even if I was mature, like many people I would get affected by a group of people picking on me.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Hyuuga Hinata cried as she was forced to kneel on the ground, the group of kids snickering in front of her. There were only three of them, but they were following their 'leader' who seemed to hate people from prominent clans. They didn't have any clan markings so I could only assume they were from civilian families, and disliked the way they were looked down upon.

I shifted from the tree I was crouched on, I was rather hesitant to act seeing that they would stop at some point, and logically I shouldn't involve myself.

"Louder!"

"I'm sorry!"

She was sobbing now, tears falling from her eyes and down on the floor, not even trying to stand up for herself. I clenched my hand, feeling my anger stir, and I hopped down, lading silently.

The kids noticed I was there after a few minutes and turned their eyes toward me.

"What do you want?" The leader sneered.

I only gave him a stare, not affected. "You're being childish."

He glared. "What?"

"Bullying someone because of their birth name is childish." I explained.

His friends shifted so they were standing behind him, their arms crossed and obviously ready to fight. This was why I didn't like to get involved with other people; it always ended up becoming complicated.

"Are you going to stop us?"

I passed my mind across the different possible outcomes, I could walk away and allow her to get bullied but my heart wouldn't allow me to do that, I could try to talk them down and get them to understand why it was wrong, they only seemed to want to do the last idea on my list. Fight. I knew only the basics of Taijutsu, and my Chakra was in handicap since it was being used to boot my Henge.

I only had a small percent of a chance to win the fight, it wasn't looking good, but as my gaze found the lilac eyes of the small girls I couldn't find it in myself to allow her to be hurt anymore then she was.

This was going to end badly, but I was prepared.

I shifted my feet in the basic Taijutsu stance and gave them a hard stare. "Yes."

They hesitated for a moment before coming all at once.

I blocked the first hit with my forearm but the second one hit me on the cheek and I stumbled back a step, before ducking when a hit was aimed toward my head and lashing my foot out, hearing one of the kids fall to the ground. A body slammed into me from behind and I winced when my head hit the ground, a fist hit the back of my head and I saw stars feeling my Henge fall from the lack of concentration. The body above me continued to hit without relenting, and I turned around from under him, making sure to block my face with my arms so that they would get hurt instead.

My Chakra wasn't getting used for Henge anymore, and though it wasn't all the way full it still had a fair amount left, I winced when a kick landed against my side and tried to block it all out, focusing on gathering up my Chakra in one of my hands. I could feel the pain as their hits connected, but the pulse of my Chakra thrummed in my ears like a second heartbeat and I willed it to move, it followed the command but I could feel the burn of my skin as too much of it pooled in my hand.

This was highly illogical to do what I was thinking of doing, but I needed to get up and off the ground and this was the only way I could accomplish that.

Another hit found its way through my arms and I lashed out a punch as the kid above me pulled his arm back to hit me once again. My hit connected and with a shout of pain he was flying off my body and into the bushes.

Everyone paused and I was given wide-eyed stares, as they finally recognizing from my lack of Henge.

"He really is a demon!" One shouted and ran off his other friends.

I frowned and pushed myself up, holding my bruised side as it echoed with pain, closing one eye as a trickle of blood dripped into it. It took a moment but I was finally able to stand up and lean heavily on a nearby tree, looking at my bright red hand. I had acted too fast, didn't think, and the Chakra had burnt it. Thankfully it wasn't terrible but I would need to bandage it later.

"T-thank y-you."

I turned my blank gaze toward the small girl and gave her a nod. "You're welcome."

She fiddled with her fingers. "A-are y-you-"

"Hinata-sama!"

A man, obviously another Hyuuga came from the bushes, and grabbed her small hand when he saw me. I turned my gaze away knowing I was easily recognizable since my Henge was down.

"Come on Hinata-sama."

She was pulled after him as he headed away, throwing a last glance over her shoulder before she was gone.

I was stupid, I acted rashly, and though I had found something interesting about Chakra I had paid the consequences. And really I hadn't been planning on doing anything in the first place.

I guess the Naruto in me just took over.

I gripped my side with my unhurt and made the long trek back home, most likely I would be healed by tomorrow, but my hand needed to be tended to. I hesitated when I realized that my Chakra was almost half empty and I would have deal with the hatred from the villagers.

I would have to eventually though, no time like the present.

* * *

_Next chapter I'll start the beginning of the academy years and we'll meet a couple new characters._


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you for the support, the reviews along with the follows and favorites made me smile._

* * *

The night before I had to start the Academy I was restless, my body didn't want to stay still and I ended up staring at the wall half the night. I could remember that Naruto didn't really have any friends, but he did hang out with Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba and a few other people. This was interesting since they were the clan heirs, I could only guess that their parents didn't really care that I was a Jinchruriki.

Which made me think on another subject.

Who were Naruto's birth parents?

I was sure that at least one of them were a Shinobi, if not both, because a civilian allowing their child to become a host for a demon didn't seem very likely. But just as I was sure that they were Shinobi, I was also sure I hadn't been abandoned. It just didn't seem to fit, but that could just be my inner child talking hoping that her parents didn't hate her enough to get rid of her. I could see that happening, sadly enough, but I just stuck with the thought that my parents were dead.

The Yondaime though was the one who sealed the Kyuubi within me, so perhaps they were friends with him, or maybe...

The possibility of me being the Yondiame's son actually was pretty high, I had seen what he looked like when I read a few books on Shinobi history and we had the same coloring.

But if I were his son, wouldn't it make sense that I wasn't hated by the villagers and maybe even liked by them because of that fact? Even if that sounded pretentious the villagers hailed the Yondiame as the hero of the village.

Now I really couldn't fall asleep.

I sat up and ran a hand through my hair, eyeing the longer strands. I had been here for about a year and hadn't cut it so the strands in front of my face reached just below my eyes. I usually kept the red scarf around my forehead so I didn't really notice the hair around my face until it came to my mind, and really despite my age I looked like a mini-Yondaime. Due to my and Naruto's rather harsh childhood my face was thin and lacking the childish fat that most people had, which made me look even more like the Yondaime.

The possibility of me being the Yondaime's son was rising, and really I didn't think anyone in the village realized the similarities, which was sad but their hatred made them blind to the world.

But there was still a chance that I was someone else's child, though the percent was lowering, and I didn't have any proof for who my parents were.

I shook out of my thoughts and turned toward the clock giving a weary sigh when I saw how late it was.

It wouldn't do to stay up the whole night, the first day of the academy was tomorrow and I needed to be sharp so I could see what was happening. Unfortunately the news that Konoha's demon was under a Henge had passed through the village because of the children from before, so I would have to lay low.

The next morning I woke up to the sun in my face and the birds chirping, annoying really. I reached for the blanket and covered my body with it, trying to resume my peaceful sleep.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

I groaned, and gave the alarm clock a dark look, before finally rising up from the bed.

A few moments later I stumbled off of my bed and toward the bureau, fumbling with putting my clothes on and tying the scarf on my head. It took a few tries until I was finally able to do it correctly, my mind still numb from sleep.

Finally I shuffled out of the room and toward the kitchen, deciding to grab up a bruised apple that had been overpriced, but it was better than eating ramen all the time. Certain shop keepers were greedy enough to sell me food for an extremely high price, but it was still food so I accepted it.

A knocking on the door caught my attention and I walked over to open it, gazing at the man curiously. It wasn't hard to recognize who he was, with the red and white clothes, pipe in his mouth, and grandfather like smile, the Hokage was at my door.

"Hello Naruto." He greeted his eyes flashing with sadness when he saw me before stepping inside. "How have you been? I haven't heard from you in a long time." His eyes scanned my room curiously, eying the scrolls and books on one of the tables.

I blinked, not really knowing how to react before shaking myself out of it. "I'm fine Oji-san." I replied, making sure to not call him Hokage-sama, it would only make him suspicious. "I've been busy training and working."

Sarutobi sent me a smile. "So I've been told, I was rather suspicious that you were up to something since you had been quiet so long but it looks like I was wrong."

I nodded.

He suddenly crouched down to my level, eyeing me. "Are you okay Naruto? Inu-san has told me that you have been acting strangely since that time that you passed out in the alley."

I shuffled through my mind trying to find a face to the name and pausing when I saw man with spikey silver hair wearing an ANBU mask, who more than likely was Hatake Kakashi before he became a Jonin again. "I'm fine. I just decided to take life a little more seriously." So Naruto did have ANBU watching over him, which was most likely why he hadn't been beaten by the villagers.

The Hokage ruffled my hair, and I felt a small pulse of Chakra send through my body, most likely just to make sure I was still Naruto. "You really are like him..." He murmured after he realized I didn't change.

I gazed up at him curiously, wondering if he was talking about my father.

"Very well Naruto." Sarutobi said, louder this time. "Do you want to walk to the Academy with me?"

That most likely wasn't the greatest idea, I mused, the civilians were not going to take the Hokage being around the 'demon' very well. But I nodded anyway, following him out of the house, and down the road.

Now though, since the Hokage was with me, I could relish in the fact at the shock on the villagers faces as they saw us walking side by side, not believing that someone like me was with their beloved leader.

* * *

The Academy was located next to the mountain in the same building as the Hokage's Office and Mission Assignment Desk was. I was rather curious about that fact; it didn't seem to be that great of an idea to put loud and rambunctious children near such a serious work environment. Then again, it was the safest place to put children, just in case of an attack the older Shinobi could get to them faster, not to mention it was the safest part of the village.

The fact that those thoughts even ran through my mind showed that I was getting affected by this world, I was already a logical thinker, but I usually didn't think about things like that.

The Hokage and I spilt apart when we arrived at the academy; there was a small introduction ceremony for everyone. I sat apart from the other children, knowing that their parents would, if they hadn't already; tell them to stay away from me. Sarutobi eventually showed up and gave an inspiring speech about friendship and teamwork. Truthfully I didn't really pay attention to it all. I put most of my attention in looking over the students, realizing that even if the kids were small, I was one of the smallest due to the lack of food.

I was rather surprised at the amount of children attending, I had been under the impression that there was only one class per year, but it made sense that there was more seeing that so many people wanted to be a Shinobi. More than likely less than half of the students would pass, and who knew how many would actually survive.

There were too teachers who called the students for their class before Iruka showed up, looking just as awkward and young as I had remembered him. "Okay. Aburame, Shino..." I knew that I was going to be in his class, but the thought of befriending Iruka never crossed my mind, I didn't even remember how they met for that manner.

"Inuzuka Kiba,Nara, Shikamaru, Uchiha Sasuke..." He paused when my name came up, his breath hitching slightly. "Uzumaki Naruto and Yamanaka Ino. Please follow me." We were lead away. I followed silently from behind ignoring the angered whispering from the crowd.

The class was rather large. Huge windows were set on the opposite wall, a good escape if needed. I knew that Shinobi did not like small spaces, so places like restaurants and houses were on the larger side so that the more experience Shinobi wouldn't start to panic or be nervous. The class room had benches aligned in three rows similar to an auditorium. A large black board was set up front with a stand where the teacher could be by.

I shuffled over to the back corner of the room near the window, in my past life sitting in the back usually meant you were anti-social, up to no good, or just didn't care about the class. Now though, it was the best place to observe the students and make sure that none of them tired anything. I watched as the kids eventually sat down, sizing each other up as they passed while Iruka tried to make order in the room.

Most of the morning was spent assigning us to certain books, making sure everyone had the proper supplies, listing the rules and what not and giving us name tags so we could mingle. It was rather similar to a regular school, but since we had just started it made sense that we didn't start sparing immediately.

I didn't really hate school, but going through it once again didn't make me like it very much. Not that I had much of a choice anyway.

Most of the kids were paying attention to the teacher, and it made sense, kids usually were rather well behaved the first few days of school. Though once they got use to the new environment I could easily predict they would cause trouble. I couldn't blame Shikamaru, who had fallen asleep, I knew he was smarter than most kids so this must be rather 'troublesome' for him, it was for me.

Finally the bell rang, signaling the start of lunch.

"All right kids." Iruka had to shout to be heard over the noise. "Come back in an hour when the bell rings!"

I opted to jump through the window like some of the other kids, landing on the ground with ease and walking toward a tree. I didn't have enough food to make lunch so I was just going to hang around until it was time to return. I climbed a nearby tree and rested on it, watching the kids below as they chatted and laughed. As the Junikurki it was stupid to try and make friends, the parents had ingrained in most of the kids brains that I was dangerous or someone who wasn't to be talked to. I was a loner by nature, but I couldn't help and long for at least some company. I was used to having my family surrounding me, having my sister bug me, now though I didn't have anything.

I spotted Hinata eating alone also, most likely because she was part of one of the more prominent clans, like the Uchiha. Many people avoided her because of how she acted; they immediately thought she was refusing to talk to them because she saw herself as higher standing. But I knew from the anime that she was just extremely shy and unconfident, mostly because of her father.

Perhaps, I mused, it would be okay if I talked to her at least for a little bit. She did have a crush on Naruto, but I didn't really know when it started and I highly doubted she would have a crush on me. Hinata liked Naruto because of how optimistic he was, and how he never allowed anyone to drag him down. I just didn't care what people thought or said about me, and I rarely smiled so she had no reason to gain a crush.

Then again I was sure that she and Naruto didn't communicate until later on and even then they barely knew each other.

My mind made up I jumped from the tree and headed toward the small girl, feeling the stares of the children as I passed.

"You are Hyuuga-san correct?" I asked, my voice quiet.

She started and gave me a wide eyed look, nodding her head. "Y-yes."

"Were you harmed?" When she only gave me a confused look I elaborated. "The bullies pushed you around a lot, but I had hoped you didn't get severely harmed."

The small girl shook her head. "N-no, t-they d-didn't hurt m-me. T-thanks f-for a-asking t-though."

"That's good." I replied, shifting on my feet. I really was curious about her injuries but I didn't have anything else to say. It was odd, I may have been mature, but I had the hardest time communicating with kids my age, older people were fine, something about the people my age just made it hard. Perhaps it was because they were prone to judge people faster than adults, though adults also had that problem.

Her fingers tapped nervously and she gave me a quick glance before looking away. "A-are y-your w-wounds o-okay?"

I glanced toward my still wrapped hand, it was almost all the way healed thanks to the Kyuubi but it was still red and hurt some. "It is fine." I answered, giving her a grateful nod.

I paused for a moment before sitting down beside her. "I hope you do not mind if I sit here." I said when she looked confused, but she didn't object to it so I guessed it was fine.

I knew that this wouldn't last long, she was a Hyuuga and sooner or later she would be ordered not to hang around me, for now though I would enjoy the moment. I may be a solitary creature, but one companion was always nice to have.

After lunch we had Taujutsu, which was similar to P.E., one of the classes that I actually didn't have a problem with even though I wasn't the best at it. Being a Shinobi meant that a lot of jumping and running would be involved so I had to work through it, and actually Taijutsu was one of my higher points. I was able to form the correct stances since I read about it in my scrolls, but I wasn't really strong so I didn't do much.

Actually it went rather well, I guess. Speed and stamina wise I was okay with, thanks to my job I was rather nimble, not to mention my body was on the smaller size so that helped me out a little. I wasn't as fast as Kiba though, but I could out pace Shikamaru who was just jogging at a slow pace without a care. I didn't come in first though, and I was around the last few people to arrive, thanks to my bodies lack of energy since I didn't eat any food, which was disappointing, speed was something I wanted to work on, it always amazed me at how fast Shinobi could go.

This was how Shinobi got around though, so I had to put the weakness behind me and continue to work on it, even if my breath came out in pants and my limbs burned by the last few laps.

After running we stretched and did some sit ups, the latter I failed at due to my lack of upper body strength, and then went through a maze like obstacle course. It looked similar to what the army had, and was hard since we had just finished with our last activity.

I had more than a few thoughts to just give up, but then I remembered who I was and I pushed myself to continue. Before I had died I was rather lazy, and stuck to the books instead of running outside, so I had to keep the idea that I was Uzumaki Naruto, not some random character, in my head. I wasn't one to be physical, but I enjoyed running, and even joined the soccer team before I quit, realizing it had too many people for my liking.

Truthfully I had thought that it would be a breeze, to get through the academy, but then the reality of the fact was I wasn't near ready to face the world. And I was humbled by that fact, that I still had a long way to go before I could live up to Uzumaki Naruto's name.

I had died at a young age. But most likely lived longer than most Shinobi, and I wasn't the closest to my parents even if I loved them. I did nothing special or spectacular. Always sitting at the sidelines and watching as everyone else change the world. I didn't have any illusion that I would become super amazing powerful, but maybe this time I could do something in this world.

This time, perhaps, I could be someone new.

I sounded like a daydreaming girl, promising the people that she would be someone who changed the world. Really, this was the real world, but when you were a Shinobi it was hard not to overpower yourself when dreaming.

I wasn't about to give up after one class though.

Iruka seemed rather pleased by the end of the day, a half smile on his features as he sent us off so we must have not done horribly. Everyone seemed to be more energized once they realized that the day was done.

I waited until all the kids had left the room before going outside.

I hesitated, watching as kids ran to their parents with wide smiles.

It was hard, seeing everyone have someone to talk to and exclaim over their first day of class. I didn't have that, not anymore. And I had to accept that and just move on, which was hard, but not impossible.

The parents murmured to each other as I walked out of the academy, their glares almost burning.

"I can't believe that something like _that_ is allowed to attend the academy."

"What is the Hokage thinking?"

"He's obviously dangerous."

I clenched my hands at the not so quiet whispers, quickening my pace to get away. Even if there was a law, it didn't stop people from hinting, and just being hateful. The Hokage wasn't able to stop everyone, and even if the villagers didn't hurt me physically, they most definitely hurt me mentally.

But I had to be strong, not just for myself, but for the villagers and everyone. Naruto was, he saved them even if they treated him horribly, and even kept a smile on it throughout the whole ordeal.

I didn't know if I would love the village as much as he did, I refused to let a whole town get destroyed.

Even if they treated me like dirt.

* * *

_I hope you enjoyed it! :) I apologize for any mistakes, I'm in a hurry._


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